. >> not about zingers, serious substantive policy. and in "the washington post" showing a virtual dead heat with the president and mitt romney. obama with a slight edge. 49-47%. t also in this survey, it delves down into the expectations game for this debate. what can you tell me about those numbers, peter? >> reporter: despite what chris christie said, and that is sort of another mixed message coming out of the romney campaign, romney is winning the expectations game if you look at the polls. more likely to win the debate, president obama 55%. mitt romney just 31% of likely voters expect him to win the debate. that's a good place to be for him going in there, but like you said, there's a lot of stuff in this poll. sort of mirrors what we've seen in a lot of recent national and state polls. president obama has advantages on a range of issues, however, one thing tilting in romney the direction. interesting numbers in the poll. which candidate are you confident will get the country back ton track economically? president obama, 47%. mitt